Folks and Fish # 2

From my studio I can see Kabeljoubank where the snoek hang out to dry with Table Mountain in the distance. If the motorists racing past on the R27 will only spend 15 minutes to drive to this rocky outpost, they can observe a centuries old West Coast custom of drying salted fish in the open air and seabreeze.

My models are not the owners of the fish, but are helping to turn and guard them for a small daily fee. On my first visit two years ago they were timid in front of the camera and extremely shy of the easel and paints set-up. Now, for a small modelling fee, they hold out the snoek so I can observe the lovely pinks of the wet fish and the blue and turquoise colours when the sun reflects the oil in the fish. They remember me from before and even tell my what I forgot to take note of the previous visit.

The painting, I think, is my least favourite of the "Folks and Fish"set of four because of the bright sunlight and deep shadows. I much prefer the cloudy moods of the West Coast for my paintings. Readers can find more about snoek in two of my older posts: Snoek drying on the fence, and Smoorsnoek prepared in a country kitchen.

Smoorsnoek prepared in a cottage kitchen

Remember the rows of salted snoek drying on the fence? The practice is at least 300 years old on the West Coast. It figures: snoek we have, salt we have. (salt pans at Velddrift). The winters here are stormy and it rains continiously. This is the time when the hearty dish of smoorsnoek is prepared. The dried salted snoek is soaked overnight to get rid of the salt and to miraculously restore the fish. The next day the fish is cooked in a little water for 15-20 minutes and 2 cups of the stock reserved. It is turned out on a tray and fine combed with two forks to get rid of all the bones, then cut up into cubes.

This is the way the dish is prepared: Fry a few onions and some cubed sweet peppers for colour. For a bigger family, half a shredded cabbage is added while the onions are frying. Add the cubed snoek, the stock and some cubed potatoes. Add pepper but no salt. Serve with rice. We always want something sweet with smoorsnoek and the famous South African chutneys are perfect with this dish.

In my painting I have used the very authentic hundred-year-old West Coast kitchen that I saw in the old schoolmaster's house a few days ago.

Snoek drying on the Fence

The northwestern corner of Ganzekraal has a barbed wire fence, an ideal place to dry out snoek. Everything starts with plankton being in abundance, this will bring on small fish and in turn draw the snoek. Of course man is on top of the food chain and hundreds of snoek are caught, cleaned, then stored under layers of salt for two to three days. Afterwards the salt is rinsed off and the fish are brought here to this high spot to dry in the sun and wind. In times when the West Coast is beaten by storms the snoek will keep in or out of a fridge and will be used to prepare smoorsnoek, a braised fish stew served with rice. Surprisingly, it is a lovely white stew in spite of the inedible colours seen when they are displayed in their long rows that seem to stretch all the way to Table Mountain.